In the process of laying long lengths of double armored underwater cable from a floating platform, the cable has been typically stored on reels. There is a significant advantage in utilizing long lengths of cable in that it avoids interrupting the laying process to make splices in the cable. A disadvantage of using long lengths of cable is the weight of the cable itself. In the past, it has been difficult to handle long lengths of double armored, contrahelic cable, particularly lengths ranging on the order of 3000 m and longer, and weighing 150 tons and more.